Folding chair with safety latch device

ABSTRACT

A safety latch device for children folding chairs includes an anchor unit which has two ends pivotally engaged with a rear leg and a backrest bracket, and a slide unit coupled with the rear leg. The anchor unit and the slide unit have respectively a latch finger and a latch opening corresponding to with each other to form a latched relationship. The slide unit further has a release opening to allow users to undo the latched relationship only through a tool such that a child sitting on the chair may be prevented from falling down resulting from abrupt folding of the chair caused by incidental release of the latched relationship.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a safety latch device for a children folding chair and particularly to a latch device for a folding chair that can prevent latch means from unfastening when a child seats thereon to avoid incidental folding of the chair.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Folding chairs are chairs with turnable and foldable frames to shrink the size of the chairs. They may be folded when not in use to facilitate storage, and may be extended for use when desired. They are a good deign and give people many benefits.

[0003] However, the turning and folding function of folding chairs could cause the chairs to tumble incidentally due to unbalance of loading when people sitting thereon. Hence safety and stability have become very important issues for folding chairs. This is especially true for folding chairs designed for children use. As children usually are very active, guarding mechanisms and measures should be more thorough and comprehensive.

[0004] In the known prior art, the main structure of a folding chair generally includes a seat bracket, backrest bracket, and front and rear legs that can form relative and pivotal turning and folding relationship. Safety and stability mechanism is a latch device located between the rear legs and backrest bracket. In order to prevent children from pinch injury, applicant has disclosed a design in U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,848, granted Oct. 8, 1991, entitled: “Folding Chair Frame Tube Position Device”. Its structure includes a slide unit coupled to the rear leg and a positioning element having two ends pivotally and respectively engaged with the rear leg and backrest bracket. The slide unit and the positioning element have respectively a harness trough and a harness section located at corresponding positions to engage with each other. When the folding chair is extended, the slide unit may be moved downwards to contact the positioning element, and the harness trough and the harness section may form a latched condition to make the folding chair steady in the extended condition without abrupt tumbling or folding.

[0005] However, such a folding chair still has potential risks when seating a child. As any child can easily move the slide unit away from the positioning element to disengage the harness section from the harness trough, as a result, the folding chair becomes open and unfastened. A slight movement of people sitting thereon could cause the seat bracket, backrest bracket and front and rear legs turning and folding because of unbalanced loading. The chair could be tumbled down and cause accidents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The primary object of the invention is to resolve aforesaid disadvantages. The invention aims to provide a safety latch device for a folding chair that won't be unfastened easily under the latched condition to prevent a child sitting thereon from falling down.

[0007] To achieve the foregoing objects, the safety latch device of the invention mainly includes an anchor unit and a slide unit. The anchor unit has two ends pivotally engaging with the rear leg and the backrest bracket. The pivotal end on the backrest bracket has a harness section to allow the folding chair extending and positioning. The harness section has an extended latch finger. The slide unit is coupled to the rear leg and has a harness trough corresponding to and engageable with the harness section. The harness trough has a latch opening to allow the latch finger passing to form a latched relationship. On the exterior of the slide unit, there is a release opening for releasing the latched relationship between the latch finger and latch opening mentioned above. Hence the chair may be prevented from incidental tumbling and hurting the child sitting thereon.

[0008] The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention.

[0010]FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the invention.

[0011]FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic views of the invention in use.

[0012]FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic views of an embodiment of the invention in use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0013] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, for an embodiment of the invention, the folding chair on which the safety latch device of the invention is installed includes a seat bracket 10, a backrest bracket 20, and two front legs 40 and two rear legs 50 pivotally engaged with two sides of the seat bracket 10. The elements set forth above form a turnable and foldable relationship among one another. The invention mainly includes an anchor unit 70 which has two ends respectively and pivotally engaging with the rear leg 50 and backrest bracket 20, and a slide unit 60 coupling to the rear leg 50. The pivotal end of the anchor unit 70 on the backrest bracket 20 has a harness section 73 for the folding chair to extend and position. The harness section 73 has an extended and elastic latch finger 71. The slide unit 60 may be slid on the rear leg 50 and has a harness trough 62 corresponding to and engageable with the harness section 73. The harness trough 62 has a latch opening 63 allowing the latch finger 71 to insert into to form a latched relationship therebetween. The slide unit 60 further has a release opening 65 formed on the exterior thereof for releasing the latched relationship set forth above. Users must utilize a tool to insert into the release opening 65 to disengage the latched relationship between the latch finger 71 and the latch opening 63. Thereby the chair with a child sitting thereon may be prevented from abrupt folding because of incidental unfastening of the latch.

[0014] The anchor unit 70 has two ends formed respectively a first axis section 74 and a second axis section 76 for pivotally engaging with the backrest bracket 20 and the rear leg 50. The first and second axis sections 74, 76 have at least one swiveling side wing 75 which has an anchor element 77 corresponding to a folding displacement location of the rear leg 50 to aid positioning of the rear leg 50. The latch finger 71 and the anchor unit 70 may be integrally formed. The latch finger 71 has a top end formed an inverse hook 72.

[0015] The slide unit 60 has two sides each has a reinforced section 66 to strengthen the structure of the harness trough 62 so that the harness trough 62 and the harness section 73 may be engaged more securely. In the latch opening 63 of the slide unit 60, there is an elastic retain flange 64 for pressing the latch finger 71 to prevent the latch finger 71 from breaking loose.

[0016] Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, when in use, the anchor unit 70 may be swiveled about the second axis section 76 through the side wing 75 to allow the harness section 73 located on the outer rim of the first axis section 74 resting on the rear leg 50. Then the slide unit 60 and the anchor unit 70 are on a same linear line. Users may direct the harness trough 62 of the slide unit 60 towards the harness section 73 of the anchor unit 70, and move the slide unit 60 to the anchor unit 70 to make the harness section 73 latching the harness trough 62. In the mean time, the latch finger 71 of the harness section 73 is inserted into the latch opening 63, and is depressed by the retain flange 64 in the harness opening 63. And the inverse hook 72 on the top end of the latch finger 71 is latched in the release opening 65 to form a latched relationship. By means of aforesaid construction, the slide unit 60 cannot be separated easily from the anchor unit 70, therefore can prevent the chair from incidental folding, and prevent the child sitting on the chair from falling. When there is desire to undo the latched relationship, a thin tool with a pointed front end must be used to insert into the release opening 65 to move the inverse hook 72 of the latch finger 71 away from the latch opening 63.

[0017] Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B for an embodiment of the invention, the folding chair mainly includes a seat bracket 10 and a backrest bracket 20, and with two front legs 40, two rear legs 50 and two armrests 30 pivotally engaged with two sides of the seat bracket 10. The elements set forth above form a turnable and foldable relationship among one another. After applying forces on the front and rear legs 40, 50 to extend the folding chair, the anchor unit 70 may be swiveled about the second axis section 76 through the side wing 75, and the rear leg 50 is driven to move close to the backrest bracket 20. In the mean time, the first axis section 74 is moved and rested on the rear leg 50 and is located on a same linear line with the slide unit 60. Applying a force on the slide unit 60, the slide unit 60 may be moved towards the anchor unit 70 to make the latch opening 63 in the harness trough 62 latching on the latch finger 71 of the harness section 73. Thereby the chair may be positioned and anchored in an extended condition without folding or swiveling. When people seat on the chair, the load exerting on the seat bracket 10 and backrest bracket 20 is distributed through the anchor unit 70 to the rear legs 50. The anchor unit 70 can be securely fastened without loosening easily to protect the safety of the child sitting on the chair. Only by using a pointed article to insert into the release opening 65 to move the latch finger 71 away from the latch opening 63 can the chair be folded and stored.

[0018] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiment of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A safety latch device for a children folding chair, comprising: an anchor unit having two ends pivotally engaged with a rear leg and a backrest bracket, the pivotal engaging end on the backrest bracket having a harness section which has an extended latch finger; and a slide unit slidably coupled with the rear leg having a harness trough corresponding to and engageable with the harness section, the harness trough having a latch opening to allow the latch finger to insert into for establishing a latched relationship therebetween, the slide unit further having an exterior with a release opening formed therein for releasing the latched relationship; wherein the latched relationship between the latch finger and the latch opening is undone through users utilizing a tool to insert into the release opening thereby to prevent the latched relationship from undoing incidentally and resulting in abrupt folding of the folding chair and incurring injury to a child sitting on the chair.
 2. The safety latch device for a children folding chair of claim 1, wherein the anchor unit has at least one swivel side wing which has two ends formed respectively a first axis section and a second axis section to pivotally engage with the backrest bracket and the rear leg.
 3. The safety latch device for a children folding chair of claim 2, wherein the swivel side wing has an anchor element corresponding to a folding displacement location of the rear leg to aid positioning of the rear leg.
 4. The safety latch device for a children folding chair of claim 1, wherein the latch opening has a retain flange located therein to prevent the latch finger from breaking loose.
 5. The safety latch device for a children folding chair of claim 1, wherein the latch finger has a top end formed an inverse hook.
 6. The safety latch device for a children folding chair of claim 1, wherein the latch finger and the anchor unit are integrally formed.
 7. The safety latch device for a children folding chair of claim 1, wherein the latch finger is elastic.
 8. The safety latch device for a children folding chair of claim 4, wherein the retain flange is elastic.
 9. The safety latch device for a children folding chair of claim 1, wherein the slide unit has two sides each having a reinforced section to add the strength of the harness trough. 